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Club Sadowsky!!!

#18,181
The Butler said:
I agree with you on the alder/rw PJ5. I have been through a bunch of basses but this Sadowsky is just awesome. Here's a pic of me working on some pre-production tracks for an upcoming CD. This bass just kills. I used it passive & rolled over to all P for several tracks, active and blended for the rest. Just experimenting with the different tones you can get out of this bass.

73845_1717373774267_1235921821_2387172_1772479_n.jpg
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I'm a huge fan of the Alder/RW PJ5's. I've had a few of them and absolutely love those basses. They just work - and in almost any situation I can think of.
 
#18,182
P. Bass said:
Over the years I have had P-Basses of alder/rw, ash/maple,& alder/maple - current P. On top of that in the past 35years I have auditioned literally hundreds of P's of every stripe, at local establishments. I pretty much understand the choice I have made for my build & what to expect - to a degree that reason states at least. (the rest is trust in Roger's genius) ;)
Ash bodies produce a "grainy" (for lack of better term) tone compared to the "smoothness" of alder, to my ear. Now you combine that ash body w/ a maple board & the tone becomes "hard".(on a P. at least). And I like that but I need a different flavour at this point. You put a rosewood board on that baby & now you have "grain with SWEETNESS". It's like taking the "growl" of flats on a fretless & soaking it in maple syrup. LOL. IMO if you get the eq right on a rw bd - it's like falling into a vat of that maple syrup & the taste is exquisite. I can't recall anyone else w/ this spec so I'm enjoying this ride. We will see.
With regard to aesthetics : I could have chosen a beauty quilt or burl but I am an "understatement freak". The '59 burst on ash is as good as it gets for me!!!
Thanks for asking Jerry.
B.
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I'm a rosewood/alder guy really, but I've had a few basses that we're rosewood/ash that killed. (as is my Fender Jazz- the baddest bass I EVER played. IMO naturally)

My second generation PRS is rosewood/ash and it smokes.
I may be leaning towards rosewood/ash.

This was my all time #1 fav Sadowsky:

Standard 5 with ash/rosewood.
Simple.


Looked to see if I had anything else with that bass. Wish I did.
That one has some serious magic........
Wish I could talk the crew in doing a Metro exactly like it in ash/rosewood.....;)
 
#18,183
MikeBass said:
This was my all time #1 fav Sadowsky:

Standard 5 with ash/rosewood.
Simple.


Looked to see if I had anything else with that bass. Wish I did.
That one has some serious magic........
Wish I could talk the crew in doing a Metro exactly like it in ash/rosewood.....;)
Click to expand...
Oh man... why oh why did you ever sell that bass... sweet tone... me LIKEY!

Loved the groove on that tune, too. Yummy.
 
#18,184
P. Bass said:
Over the years I have had P-Basses of alder/rw, ash/maple,& alder/maple - current P. On top of that in the past 35years I have auditioned literally hundreds of P's of every stripe, at local establishments. I pretty much understand the choice I have made for my build & what to expect - to a degree that reason states at least. (the rest is trust in Roger's genius) ;)
Ash bodies produce a "grainy" (for lack of better term) tone compared to the "smoothness" of alder, to my ear. Now you combine that ash body w/ a maple board & the tone becomes "hard".(on a P. at least). And I like that but I need a different flavour at this point. You put a rosewood board on that baby & now you have "grain with SWEETNESS". It's like taking the "growl" of flats on a fretless & soaking it in maple syrup. LOL. IMO if you get the eq right on a rw bd - it's like falling into a vat of that maple syrup & the taste is exquisite. I can't recall anyone else w/ this spec so I'm enjoying this ride. We will see.
With regard to aesthetics : I could have chosen a beauty quilt or burl but I am an "understatement freak". The '59 burst on ash is as good as it gets for me!!!
Thanks for asking Jerry.
B.
Click to expand...

Blair, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I did get kinda lost in the syrup analogy but what do we baja Canadians know about true maple syrup anyway?:D:hiding:

I do have an ash/maple P and an alder/rw P and I would say that your assessment makes a lot of sense. There is a difference between the two, allowing for the age difference, that I've never really taken the time to figure out. But I think that you saved me some time in getting to the bottom of it.
 
#18,186
smeet said:
I know Sadowsky doesn't sell the midboost circuit separately... :hmm:

Have they ever stated a reason for that? I would love to add that to my nyc vintage 5...
Click to expand...

I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth, but it is fairly common marketing practice. Offering the component alone would take a bit of steam off the WL marketing effort.

If you want a mid boost, you have to buy a WL. I am assuming that Roger Sadowsky and the folks he trusts have decided that's the best position to be in.

I'd wager that it will become available as a module at some point. When it's the best marketing option . :)
 
#18,187
Jerry J said:
Blair, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I did get kinda lost in the syrup analogy but what do we baja Canadians know about true maple syrup anyway?:D:hiding:

I do have an ash/maple P and an alder/rw P and I would say that your assessment makes a lot of sense. There is a difference between the two, allowing for the age difference, that I've never really taken the time to figure out. But I think that you saved me some time in getting to the bottom of it.
Click to expand...

Don't get me started on maple syrup Jerry. :rolleyes: You come visit sometime. I know diz guy.:D
I was never one to over-analyse tone. I think an apt analogy for ash vs alder would be the Fender vs Gibson (guitars) sound. Fender has an inherent "dirty" sound compared to the "clean" Gibson HBer sound (for the most part). Ash, to my ear, has a less than pristine character to it's tone which I am attracted to. It's the fret board that accentuates OR colours that character, for better or worse, depending on one's inclination.
It has been said that music is the finest of the arts in it's ability to stir instant emotion in the beholder. That concept holds so true for me when listening to tonewood. Our tool of choice does not get any more personal than when we are perceiving the emotion it stirs in US.
That's all I have to say about that.
Yours truly,
Forrest.....Forrest Gump.

B. :)
 
#18,188
Chasarms said:
I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth, but it is fairly common marketing practice. Offering the component alone would take a bit of steam off the WL marketing effort.

If you want a mid boost, you have to buy a WL. I am assuming that Roger Sadowsky and the folks he trusts have decided that's the best position to be in.

I'd wager that it will become available as a module at some point. When it's the best marketing option . :)
Click to expand...

The Will Lee circuit is not a separate component that can be added to a regular Sadowsky preamp. It is an entirely new circuit board that incorporates the Sadowsky 2 band FET circuit, plus the mid boost circuit.

At the present time, the Will Lee preamp is exclusive to the Will Lee 4 string and 5 string bass. I honestly have no idea if or when it will become an available option on any Sadowsky bass. But it will never be a retrofit for my current preamp.

Roger
 
#18,190
Sadowsky said:
The Will Lee circuit is not a separate component that can be added to a regular Sadowsky preamp. It is an entirely new circuit board that incorporates the Sadowsky 2 band FET circuit, plus the mid boost circuit.

At the present time, the Will Lee preamp is exclusive to the Will Lee 4 string and 5 string bass. I honestly have no idea if or when it will become an available option on any Sadowsky bass. But it will never be a retrofit for my current preamp.

Roger
Click to expand...

Please forgive the misinformation. One of the things that I love so much about talkbass is that it is a credible source for lots of great stuff. The last thing that I want to do is contribute to the peripheral BS.

I am certain I read somewhere that it was a separate. But either I misread or the info was plain bogus.

Nonetheless, Talkbass prevails in that the definitive source squashes the fodder in his typical polite and professional manner!!!!

Many thanks RS!!!
 
#18,191
P. Bass said:
Ash bodies produce a "grainy" (for lack of better term) tone compared to the "smoothness" of alder, to my ear. Now you combine that ash body w/ a maple board & the tone becomes "hard".(on a P. at least). And I like that but I need a different flavour at this point. You put a rosewood board on that baby & now you have "grain with SWEETNESS". It's like taking the "growl" of flats on a fretless & soaking it in maple syrup. LOL. IMO if you get the eq right on a rw bd - it's like falling into a vat of that maple syrup & the taste is exquisite. I can't recall anyone else w/ this spec so I'm enjoying this ride. We will see.
With regard to aesthetics : I could have chosen a beauty quilt or burl but I am an "understatement freak". The '59 burst on ash is as good as it gets for me!!!
Thanks for asking Jerry.
B.
Click to expand...

+1 That pretty much mirrors my experience with ash/rosewood. It's a great combination, IMHO. :cool:
 
#18,193
P. Bass said:
Anything further to that estimation would be welcomed Tom. I still think about that gig photo of yours that I saw w/ your P/J 5er. Sweeeeeeet.
B.
Click to expand...

Thanks! FWIW, my P/J 5 has an ash body and ebony board. This is of course not a "traditional" wood combination, but I figured that the P/J setup was a bit of a deviation from "vintage" already, and I like the extra clarity and "ping" that I get from an ebony board. Combined with my fingerstyle playing mostly over the neck pickup, I find that an ebony board lets me cover a wide range of tones, and even emulate a pick attack to a certain extent. And of course, there's always that VTC if things get to snappy up top. :cool:

As for specific ash/rosewood combinations, I think my only current bass with that setup is my Fbass VF5. George specifically recommended that wood combo, citing the strong lows and sweet high end, and that is certainly what my VF5 delivers. I have played several other ash/rosewood J-style basses which I really liked (including a sweet DJ4 that I recently traded away), but I don't think I've played an ash/rosewood P-bass. I definitely agree with you as to ash/maple in a P-bass (my '74 Precision is ash/maple). It's quite a departure from alder/rosewood in a P-bass (which I also like a lot, but I see as something very different). I could see where ash/rosewood would work really well in a P-bass, though. I may have to give it a try one of these days! :D

Tom.
 
#18,194
tombowlus said:
Thanks! FWIW, my P/J 5 has an ash body and ebony board. This is of course not a "traditional" wood combination, but I figured that the P/J setup was a bit of a deviation from "vintage" already, and I like the extra clarity and "ping" that I get from an ebony board. Combined with my fingerstyle playing mostly over the neck pickup, I find that an ebony board lets me cover a wide range of tones, and even emulate a pick attack to a certain extent. And of course, there's always that VTC if things get to snappy up top. :cool:

As for specific ash/rosewood combinations, I think my only current bass with that setup is my Fbass VF5. George specifically recommended that wood combo, citing the strong lows and sweet high end, and that is certainly what my VF5 delivers. I have played several other ash/rosewood J-style basses which I really liked (including a sweet DJ4 that I recently traded away), but I don't think I've played an ash/rosewood P-bass. I definitely agree with you as to ash/maple in a P-bass (my '74 Precision is ash/maple). It's quite a departure from alder/rosewood in a P-bass (which I also like a lot, but I see as something very different). I could see where ash/rosewood would work really well in a P-bass, though. I may have to give it a try one of these days! :D

Tom.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input Tom. I'm going to be exploring that build a lot for awhile. I'm quite excited to be having a J pup to work with for a change. I think it will really enhance the P-Bass that's in my blood. ;)
What I'm REALLY looking forward to is the FEEL of that P neck. It's been a LONG time since I've had the pleasure of a "P nut"
B.
 
#18,198
Theatre Tech Report...

Music Director loved the bass in the mix, much more than the bass I used on the last show we worked on together. He said "It filled up the bottom nicely, was articulate, yet also managed to never get in the way of the vocal or the horns...it sat perfectly in the mix". This bass wins, again.

General stuff/thread related
I think if I get another a Metro, a nice compliment to my M5-24 would be a Rosewood/Alder PJ5. Between these two, plus an eventual fretless, I'd have all of the bass guitar world covered. I think my next Sadowsky related decision will be that-save up for and plan a fretless or get either a Rosewood/Alder PJ5 or Vintage 5-24.

Fun times. I'm glad I made the jump.
 
#18,199
Vic said:
Hounddog is strangely silent... well... maybe it's not so strange after all... :)
Click to expand...

I ve been playing my Bass. We had a short rehersal last night and the Ash/Maple just killed it. I didnt think I could be happier with a bass than I was with my UV-70 but I was wrong. I love it. The ash/maple is less pingy and just growls in a mix. It has the upper mids without being pingy. And the NYC with the 60's pup spacing or chambered body has more booty than my UV-70. Both have SC pups. I love it. I totally get the ash/maple thing. I cant see myself ordering, buying or playing any other combo. thanks Vic.

Mike
 
#18,200
Isn't that funny!
I expected my MV5 (ash/maple) to be brighter on top than my RV5 (alder/morado), but it sure isn't, and it does had a tad bit more native low end.

Not what I expected, but I like it.
 

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